Published: 2026-08-23
Dubai has taken its investment pitch directly to India’s technology capital. A Dubai Chambers delegation led by President and CEO Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah held a series of roundtables in Bengaluru attended by 71 investors, together with eight meetings with business and investment organisations and multinational companies, WAM reported on 2026-08-23. The sessions focused on the digital economy, advanced technologies, agentic AI and deeptech, and the message was unambiguous: Dubai wants Indian companies to use the emirate as their base for expansion into the Middle East, Africa and global markets. The outreach builds on a community that already counts 85,841 active Indian member companies at the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, the largest foreign business community in the emirate.
The Bengaluru mission in numbers
The visit was not a ceremonial stop. It combined investor roundtables, institutional meetings and two signed agreements, and it sits on top of a measurable bilateral base:
| Indicator | Figure |
|---|---|
| Investors at the Bengaluru roundtables | 71 |
| Meetings with organisations and multinationals | 8 |
| MoUs signed during the visit | 2 (NASSCOM and FKCCI) |
| Indian companies as active Dubai Chamber of Commerce members | 85,841 (end of June 2026, up 15% year on year) |
| New Indian member companies in H1 2026 | 7,579 |
| Indian FDI into Dubai in 2025 | USD 2.28 billion |
| Dubai investment into India, 2016 to 2025 | USD 9.3 billion across 147 projects, 55,274 jobs created |
| Dubai International Chamber offices in India | Mumbai (since 2018) and Bengaluru (since 2025) |
The choice of city is deliberate. Bengaluru is the centre of India’s software and deeptech industry, and Dubai International Chamber opened its second Indian representative office there in 2025, precisely to work with this ecosystem on the ground.
Who the delegation met
Over eight meetings, the delegation engaged the key institutions of Karnataka’s business landscape:
- Confederation of Indian Industry, Karnataka State Council (CII Karnataka);
- Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI);
- Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Karnataka State Council (FICCI Karnataka);
- Nasscom DeepTech;
- several multinational companies with operations in the region.
Lootah framed the trip as a continuation of a long relationship: “Dubai and India share a longstanding partnership that continues to gain momentum. We are working to deepen trade and investment cooperation across priority sectors and strengthen engagement with business communities throughout India, including in Karnataka.” The roundtables showcased Dubai’s infrastructure, regulatory environment and access to financing, and explored how Indian companies can run their Middle East, Africa and international operations from the emirate.
Two MoUs signed along the way
The institutional outcome of the visit is two memorandums of understanding, announced on 2026-08-20:
- NASSCOM: a cooperation framework for agentic AI and deeptech, covering market access for Indian companies establishing in Dubai, AI focused business delegations, B2B meetings and joint innovation initiatives. The agreement supports the initiative launched in May 2026 to transition Dubai’s private sector to agentic AI within two years. We analysed this agreement in detail in our review of the Dubai Chambers and NASSCOM MoU.
- FKCCI: a trade and investment agreement with Karnataka’s chamber network. It provides for a Virtual Dubai Desk as a single point of contact for companies exploring the Dubai market, market entry guidance, ecosystem orientation, regular roundtables and inbound and outbound business delegations.
For a company in Bengaluru weighing a Gulf expansion, both documents translate into practical channels: a named desk to approach, structured delegations to join and counterparts on the Dubai side whose mandate is to receive them.
Why Dubai is courting Indian capital
The membership statistics explain the effort. By the end of June 2026, 85,841 Indian companies were registered as active members of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, a 15% increase year on year. In the first half of 2026 alone, 7,579 new Indian companies joined. No other foreign business community in Dubai comes close to this scale.
Capital flows in both directions. Indian foreign direct investment into Dubai reached USD 2.28 billion in 2025. In the opposite direction, investments from Dubai into India totalled USD 9.3 billion across 147 projects between 2016 and 2025, creating 55,274 jobs. The corridor is not a promise, it is an operating reality, and missions like the Bengaluru one are designed to keep the pipeline growing in the priority sectors Dubai has named: digital economy, agentic AI and deeptech.
What this means for businesses
The visit is a statement of intent backed by working mechanisms. Three practical takeaways:
- Indian technology companies get formal entry channels into Dubai: the Virtual Dubai Desk under the FKCCI agreement, NASSCOM coordinated delegations and two permanent representative offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru.
- Founders and investors from other markets get a clear signal about where Dubai is directing its business development: agentic AI and deeptech are named priorities, with a two year private sector adoption programme already running.
- Companies already operating in the UAE can expect more Indian counterparties: 7,579 new Indian member companies joined the Dubai Chamber of Commerce in six months, and the roundtable programme is explicitly aimed at accelerating that inflow.
How Atlant Capital can help
If your company, like the 71 investors in that Bengaluru room, is evaluating Dubai as a base for regional expansion, the practical path starts with structure. Atlant Capital guides founders through choosing the right jurisdiction, free zone or mainland, and licence via our company setup service, and prepares the compliance file for a corporate account through our bank account opening service. We work with international founders end to end, from the first consultation to an operating company with a bank account, in English and Russian.
Conclusion
71 investors, eight meetings, two MoUs and a membership base of 85,841 Indian companies growing at 15% a year: the Bengaluru mission shows how systematically Dubai is working its largest foreign business community. The emirate is not waiting for Indian capital to arrive, it is travelling to where that capital sits and building named, staffed channels for it. For businesses anywhere weighing a Gulf expansion, the takeaway is that Dubai’s doors are not just open, they come with a reception desk.
FAQ
Why did Dubai Chambers visit Bengaluru in August 2026?
A delegation led by President and CEO Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah held roundtables with 71 investors and eight meetings with business organisations and multinational companies, presenting Dubai as a base for Indian companies expanding into the Middle East, Africa and global markets. The focus sectors were the digital economy, agentic AI and deeptech.
How many Indian companies are members of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce?
85,841 Indian companies were registered as active members by the end of June 2026, an increase of 15% year on year. In the first half of 2026 alone, 7,579 new Indian companies joined. Indian businesses form the largest foreign business community in Dubai.
What agreements did Dubai Chambers sign in Bengaluru?
Two MoUs, announced on 2026-08-20. The agreement with NASSCOM creates a cooperation framework for agentic AI and deeptech, including market access support for Indian companies establishing in Dubai. The agreement with FKCCI covers trade and investment with Karnataka and sets up a Virtual Dubai Desk with market entry guidance for companies exploring Dubai.
How much do Dubai and India invest in each other?
Indian foreign direct investment into Dubai reached USD 2.28 billion in 2025. Investments from Dubai into India totalled USD 9.3 billion across 147 projects between 2016 and 2025, creating 55,274 jobs.
